How This Family Raised 19 Kids Without Going Into Debt

You’d think with 21 mouths to feed and 20 acres worth of property to maintain, a modest family like TLC’s The Duggars would be right behind Octomom Nadya Suleman in the welfare line. Think again.

Before they started reeling in royalties from their hit TV show, the family lived 100 per cent debt free – even when patriarch Jim Bob was scraping by at a local grocery store and they could barely afford a vacuum cleaner.

'After just seeing the first session, the truths from God's Word being taught through Mr. Sammons began to convict me of my need to 'owe no man anything but love,' he said.

A real estate mogul was born

After the seminar, Jim Bob bought several commercial real estate properties. Before the show became a hit, these were the family's main sources of income.

He turned this 37,000 sq. foot chicken hatchery into 10 rental units and makes major bank renting out a cell phone tower to mobile phone carriers.

They were debt-free within seven years

It took them about that long to save up to pay for their first home in cash.

Here are the stats on their current digs:

-7,000 sq. ft on 20 acres

-4 bedrooms

-1 massive family closet

The family washes 35 loads of laundry per week. To cut costs, they have their own recipe for DIY laundry soap.

Total cost: $1 per month.

They get all their bills itemized

'For hospital bills, phone bills, anything -- ask for everything to be itemized. Especially cell phone bills, they always add extra expenses,' Michelle told Parenting.com. 'They automatically put stuff on. We call them and get them to take it off. You have to keep an eye on every one of those.'

They spend $3,000 on their grocery bill alone each month and use their entire garage as a pantry